Shami Ahmed has the necessary skill: Rajput

The Bengal speedster’s impressive outing for the India A side in New Zealand should come as welcome news.

Calcutta/Mumbai: With Zaheer Khan’s form being in the downslide and for the general cry of injecting more pace into the Indian bowling attack, Bengal speedster Shami Ahmed’s impressive outing for the India A side in New Zealand should come as a welcome news.

Praising Shami’s dedication, India A coach Lalchand Rajput, on Tuesday, said that the bowler has the skill to make the difference.

Speaking after his arrival on Monday, Rajput said: “I’m highly impressed with Shami… We would have won the first four-day match had Shami not picked up a side strain because of the cold weather.”

Shami picked up two wickets in the only one-day match he played and also snared three in the first four-day match. A side strain, however, cut his campaign short.

Shami’s teammate Anustup Majumdar complemented Rajput’s views as he said: “The New Zealand batsmen were finding it difficult to play him. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury…”

Talking about himself, Anustup said that he has returned as ‘a better cricketer’ from New Zealand. “This was the first overseas tour for me in India colours… I took Sourav Ganguly’s advice before going there. He said the lateral movement of the ball is much more… And I prepared accordingly, working on my backfoot play."

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